The most important PlayStation feature in five years is finally coming to the PS4

UPDATE: This incoming PS4 feature is of utmost importance to PlayStation owners

PlayStation is set to implement a new two-step authentication feature which should hopefully prevent any future hacks, service outages and overall security failings with Sony's PlayStation Network (PSN) service.

The news was confirmed to Polygon by a Sony representative after several users noticed some mentions of the feature in the PS3's most recent 4.80 firmware update.

According to Sony, details would be provided soon, but the company haven't set an official date on when two-factor authentication will arrive.

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You might think you don't know what two-factor authentication is, but there's a good chance you've encountered it while using online services before.

The feature is commonplace these days and used by a majority of websites that handle extremely sensitive information such as credit cards, emails, addresses and more.

Effectively it requires that all users set up a secondary means of logging in on top of the standard username/password combination.

The second login usually takes the form of a one-time code that can be sent to your phone, adding an additional layer of security as any would be hackers would require both your login details and your mobile to have any severe impact on your account.

Many might recall that back in 2011, Sony were the subject of a rather infamous hack, after cyber criminals made off with names, addresses, email addresses, birth dates, passwords and usernames of 77 million PSN users.

Following that rather heated event, Microsoft implemented their own two-step procedure with their own service Xbox Live in 2013.

Equally PC services such as Steam and Blizzard's Battle.net have benefited from the second layer of security for years.

With well over 110 million registered users, it's good to see that Sony - especially with the possibility of a brand new console on the horizon - are finally doing something.

Some might argue that they should have done it a bit sooner, but every PSN account holder should be grateful for the additional level of security to their online services.